Letter-carrier&#39;s desk.



C. F. HEATH.

LETTER -CARRIER'S DESK. APPLICATION man His. 6, 1911.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

2 SHEEHFSHEET I.

C. F. HEATH.

LETTER CARRIER'S DESK. APPLICATION FILED FEB. s. 1917.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lllhlTT Teri as a onnrcn.

LETTERr-CARRIERS DESK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

Application filed February 6, 1917. Serial No. 146,947.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE F. HEATH, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in Letter-Carriers Desks. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to post-office furniture and especially to letter carriers desks which are used for sorting and routing mail preparatory to being delivered.

The main object of my invention is to provide an improved desk and routing case which will greatly facilitate the sorting and routing of the mail. To this end I provide separate compartments or sections of the desk for letters and for papers and I make the desk exceedingly compact by having the paper receiving section perpendicular to the letter receiving section and arranged to slide forwardly into operative position and rearwardly at the side of the-other section when not in use. The shelves are open atthe front and back in order that the desk may be easily cleaned and kept strictly sanitary. The wire-formed partitions are carried by the shelves and those in the letter section are preferably removable and are provided with a forwardly projecting guiding nose or lip to assist in guiding the letters into the proper pigeon-hole or compartment and in dicating the separating line between adjacent compartments. 1 may also provide the partitionswith an intermediate horizontal bar, formed by bending the wire back upon itself, to constitute a lateral support for very small envelops which are liable to fall over sidewise into the adjacent box. Furthermore I make the shelves slidable so that after the mail has been sorted the shelves may be pushed back until the letters project and overhang the front edges of the shelves which permits them to be more readily grasped. This feature results in a very great saving of time.

The several features above referred to, together with other improvements will he understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a letter carriers desk embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the paper section upon a larger scale; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view looking down upon the top of the paper and letter sorting sections; Fig. 4 is an end elevation taken from the side opposite the paper sorting section; Fig. 5 is a. vertical section through the letter sorting section; Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectlon through the lower part of the paper sorting section and the table top; and Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views showing different forms of the wire partitions.

The table 1 is of some suitable or usual construction on which the mail is received while it is being sorted, and may be provided with a drawer 2 and pockets 3 to receive the carriers directories.

The routing or sorting case comprises two sections, one for the letters and the other forthe papers and packages, each consisting of a series of shelves divided into compartments by wire partitions. I prefer to make the bottom tier of compartments in the letter section 5 in the form of a unitary box or section 6, open at the front and back and divided into a number of pigeon-holes by fixed partitions 8, which preferably extend from the back to within a short distance of the front. This pigeon-hole box or section is removable and can be taken out when desirable to add to the space on the top of the table. I prefer to close the case at the back of the section by a solid board 7.

Each pigeonhole and also each shelf 12. is divided into a number of coi'npartments by wire partitions 10, which are removable, the vertical ends of the wires fitting into holes in the shelves. If the mail for any building or to any firm or individual on the carriersroute is quite large, the compartment assigned to that building, firm or individual, may be enlarged by removing one or more of the partitions. In fact an entire pigeon-hole may be made into a single compartment by removing all of the partitions therefrom.

Each of the shelves 12, slides in grooves in the upright ends 1 1, and is readily removable. The side uprights 14 are connected at the rear by cross brace members 15, which are preferably let into the wood of the up rights for the purpose of giving strength and rigidity to the case. Bars 17, fastened by cleats 18, or in any suitable manner, are placed slightly above the shelves and at a short distance from the back to serve as stops against which the letters abut as they are slid into the compartments.

The partitions consist of wires 20 bent into a loop and formed with a tongue or this position the guides 21 will. strike the envelops when their lower eiilges are adja cent the bottom of the eon'ipartinents and they will remainin a vertical position, whereas if the guides we1e'l.ocated higher up they would have a tendency to cause. the

letters to turn over into an oblique posi tion. A very material advantage, and per haps the most important reason for locating these projecting guides 21 below the center and adjacent the bottom of-thecom partments is that this position does not in,- terfere with the. envelops as the carrier swings them rapidly across the front of the COll'lPEtl'tlllGDtS untilthe desired compartment is reached. For the same reason I prefer to make the gui e members 21 very narrow since a broad projecting vertical member would interfere with the free space which is desirable and facilitates the rapid distribution of the mail. It will be observed that while the narrow guiding tongue member 91 extends substantially flush with the front of the case or rack, the front part of the main body of the loop is spaced back a considerable distance therefrom to thus leave the front part of the space between the shelves unobstructed. These features are quite important and will be appreciated by letter carriers and mail clerks.

After the mail has been asserted the carrier usually pulls it from the shelves and lays it in proper order and then ties it into a bundle by means of a strap. It is onetomaryto first extend the strap across the table 1 and in order thatthe buckle on the strap will not be in the way, l[ may provide a hole 50 in the arm 45, through which the buckle may project. The shelves 12 are then pushed rearwardly'until they engage the back strips 15 and are in a position indicated in 7. The letters, however, will be held by the stops 17 so that the shelves will slide beneaththem and be left with their front ends overhanging the shelves and projecting in front of the guide 21. This greatly facilitates the withdrawal of the letters as their front ends may much more readily be grasped when the shelves and guides 21 have been pushed back out of the way. 7

After the mail has been withdrawn from the racks, the paper-rack may be pushed back into the position shown in Figs. 3 and i, the movement being arrested by the dove tail 4L0 striking the rear stop 42.

l have described in detail the partieular construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings for the purpose of clearly disclosing an embodiment of my invention but. it will be evident to engineers and skilled mechanics that the various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of my claims andwithout in any manner departing from the spirit of my invention.

1. In post-ofiice furniture, the combination with a table, ofa routing case situated above the table and comprising uprights, shelves slidably supported by said uprights, said shelves being narrower than the uprights so that they may slide rearwardly from the front of the case, partitions carried by said shelves to divide the space above the shelves into compartments, and stops securedto the uprights above the shelves and projecting forwardly from the'rear of the case for 100-" sitioning the mail matter and permitting the shelves to slide thereunder, whereby the forward ends of the mail matter may be caused to project over or overhang the frontedges of the shelves to facilitate its Withdrawal.

2. In post-office furniture, the combination witha table, of a routing case situated above the table and comprising uprights, said shelves being narrower than the uprights so that they may slide rearwardly from the front of the case, shelves slidably support ed by said uprights, partitions carried by said shelves to divide the space abovethe shelves into compartments, said partitions being provided with forwardly projecting lips or guide-portions, stops secured to the uprights above the shelves and proj ect-ing forwardly from the rear of the case for positioning the mail matter and permit ting the shelves to slide thereunder until the front edges of the shelves and said lips are in the rear of the front face of the case, to thereby cause the mail matter to overhang the front edges of the shelves to facilitate the easy withdrawal of the mail matter.

3. In post-oh'ice furniture the combination with a frame or routing case, of shelves supported thereby, and partitions dividing the space above the shelves into compartments,

said partitions comprising loop members" having their ends secured in the upper side of the shelves, and provided with a guiding lip or tongue projecting horizontally'in front of the loop and an intermediate horizontal bar portion extending between the uprights of the loop to serve as a lateral support for the upper portion of small envelops, the upper portion of the loop form ing a lateral support for envelope of the usual size, and the lower ends of the loop member preventing the envelops from shifting into an adjacent compartment. 7

4. In post-ofiice furniture the combination with a frame or routing case, of shelves slidably supported thereby, partitions dividing the space above the shelves into compartments, said partitions comprising loop members having their ends secured. in the upper side of the shelves, and provided with a guiding lip or tongue projecting horizontally in front of the loop and an intermediate horizontal bar portion extending between the uprights of the loop to serve as lateral guide for the envelops as they are inserted and also as a lateral support for small envelope, the upper portion of the loopforming a lateral. support for envelops of the .usual size; and the' lower ends of the loop member preventing the envelops from shifting at the bottom into an adjacent compartment, stops seeuredto the frame above the shelves to hold the envelops in position and permit the'sh'elves tobe moved thereunder until the front edges'of the shelves'are '7 in the rear of the forward ends of the en- 7 to serve asxa guide for the mail matter, the

'lower ends of the wire preventing the mail matter from sliding at the bottom into the adjacent compartments.

6; In a routing ease, the combination with aplurality of shelves, of partitions therefor dividing theshelves into compartments, each partition comprising a wire bent into substantially U-shape, the ends being inserted into the :upper side of the shelves, the front leg of the partition member being formed into a'horizontally extending narrow tongue projecting in front of said leg to serve as a guide for the mail matter, the lower ends of the wire preventing the mail matter from 'slidingiinto ad acent compartments, one leg of the partition being bentto form an intermediate horizontal support and guide between the legs of the partition.

a 7. In post oiiicefurniture, the combination with a table, of a letter routing rack or case Copies of this patent may be obtained for having shelves provided with partitions separating the space thereabove into compartments and a paper rack provided with shelves having separating partitions, and means for slidably supporting said paper rack at one end of said letter rack and substantially perpendicular thereto, so that it may be moved outwardly until the rear end is in front of the letter rack or moved rearwardly until it is flush with the back of the letter rack.

8. In post-oiliee furniture, the combination with a table, of a letter routing rack or case having shelves provided with partitions separating the space thereabove into compartments, and a paper rack provided with shelves having separating partitions, and means for slidably supporting said paper rack at one end of said letter rack and substantially perpendicular thereto, so that it may be moved forwardly or rearwardly, and stops for limiting the sliding movement of the paper rack in either direction.

9. In a routing case, the combination with a plurality of shelves, of partitions therefor dividing the shelves into compartments, each partition comprising a wire bent into substantially U-shape, the ends being inserted into the upper side of the shelves, the front leg of the partition member being formed into a horizontally extending narrow tongue projecting in front of said leg to serve as a guide for the mail matter and one leg of the partition member being formed into a horizontally extending bar member adapted to guide the mail matter as it leaves said guiding tongue and prevent it from entering an adjacent compartment, the lower ends of the wire preventing the mail matter from sliding at the bottom into adjacent compartments.

In testimony whereofI atlix my signature.

CLARENCE F. HEATH.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0; 

